Rookie leagues require a Complete Stadium permit, which is a full 5-team farm
system. Rookie leagues are the bottom league and play a shortened 108-game
season. Each season, a live draft occurs to place inexperienced 17-year-old
players fairly on the teams in each league. These players are unpaid, and can
be signed at market value regardless of playtime. Any unsigned players are
available for private offers.
Live Draft
The live draft will take place between the 3rd and 10th. Rookie
Leagues have an additional setting for the day of the week and time to run the
draft. The exact date will change each season, but the day of the month will
remain the same. 17-year-old players will be generated during Spring Training,
and managers will have until the draft date to pre-rank their players and give
position requirements. The autodrafter will automatically pick from this list
by option or if the owner is not online. The draft will have 25 or 40 rounds,
depending on roster size.
Player Contracts
Rookie League teams can only have 17-year-olds drafted that year. These
players cannot be traded or transfered to any other teams. During the standard
extension period for other players, these 17-year-olds will offer contracts
based on their market value. The owner may choose to accept any number of
these contracts, but the players must be removed from the team by Spring
Training the following year. At the end of Spring Training each year, all
players left on a Rookie Team will be dismissed or placed in the reserve.
Rookie League teams will not be available for play during Spring Training.
Season Schedule
The schedule for each season will be made during the draft period. The season
will begin at Midnight, GMT, on the 11th of the month, exactly eight days after
the start of the full regular season for other leagues. The season will be
scheduled for a maximum of 108 games in a balanced or unbalanced schedule,
based on the league size. Recommended league configuration is four divisions
of four each, or three divisions of four. 18-team leagues will play 102-game
seasons and 16-team 2-division leagues will play 104-game seasons.
League Requirements
The requirement for a Rookie League is a complete permit, although all of the
teams do not need to be used. Any owner who has a Rookie League permit can
place their team in a Rookie League even without completing all of the higher
leagues. This way, an owner can use newly-signed rookie players from their
Rookie League team to start their A or AA team.
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Rookie League Schedule
- 1st - 17-year-olds Generated
- 3rd - Rookie Leagues Empty
- 8th - Rookie Draft
- 11th - Rookie Season Begins (108 games)
- 21st - Contract Offers for Rookies
- 27th - Playoffs
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